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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The New York State Senate on Monday for the second straight year passed a bill to legalize the sport of mixed martial arts in the state, but the fight for regulation is still far from over.
With a vote of 42-18 in favor of Bill S1707A, the Senate moved the legislation to the next step in the process, a vote by the New York State Assembly. Of course, the Assembly was where regulation on the sport was defeated in 2010 after passing the Senate vote, so the sport has been here before.
The most vocal opponent of legalizing the sport in the state has been assemblyman Bob Reilly, who will likely continue his efforts to curtail the sport's entrance into the state. New York remains on of only three states in the United States currently with athletic commissions that do not legalize the sport, with Connecticut - which is moving closer to regulation this year - and Vermont as the only others.
Penick's Analysis: This is a good step, but it's not cause for celebration yet. This passed the Senate last year, but with Reilly and the assembly still needing to pass it there are still a lot of things left to be done. ESPN MMA reporter Josh Gross says there's no reason to believe things will be different in the assembly this year, but one positive from the senate vote this time around is the very clear majority in favor of the bill. Hopefully the assembly can come around and make the right decision here to allow the sport in the state, but until they make their vote and make the sport legal it's more waiting for fans in New York.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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